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19
www.mn.catholic.org.au Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle
FEATURE
Christmas in
Word and Song
To mark the beginning of the Christmas season, and with
gratitude for the loving services done in all our churches
Holy Trinity Pastoral Council
with our Parish Priest and our Associate Pastor
invite you to join with
Holy Trinity Parish, Blackbutt North for
A Celebration of the Word
& Carols by Candlelight
When: Monday, 17 December, 2012
Place: Corpus Christi Church Platt St. Waratah
Time: 7.00pm
G5547406AA-4Dec
thought I would do. I prayed."
Despite his mother being Catholic, and being
christened in the Anglican Church, Andrew
insists he is not a Christian.
"In my prayer I didn't pray to be let in to heaven,
I didn't beg for forgiveness. I basically said
that I didn't know what was right and wrong in
the worlds of faith, and that I was trying in my
own way to work it out for myself."
With hypothermia starting to set in, and the
walls of the crevasse continuing to press in
around him, Andrew knew he had very little
time left to be rescued. But it seems as
though God -- or life --- had not quite finished
with him because the next thing he knew,
snow was falling on his head and a man was
being lowered into the crevasse high above
him.
With the language barrier making it hard
to communicate, Andrew and his rescuer
resorted to hand signals. Since the walls
of ice had begun to close up, there was no
hope of reaching Andrew. Instead, a harness
was thrown down and he had to punch and
squeeze his way through the ice while he was
being lifted out.
The next few hours were critical as he was
showing early signs of hypothermia. He was
airlifted to Innsbruck hospital -- a once in a
lifetime journey that he seems annoyed he
couldn't fully appreciate.
"If I was going to pay a massive bill for the
flight, I would have liked to enjoy the view,"
he muses.
It seems a miracle that Andrew made it out of
the depths of Switzerland alive with nothing
but some considerable cuts, scratches and
bruises across his body. But he is not out of
the woods yet.
"The challenge comes from within now, as I
relive the event in my head. Nights can be a
struggle when I am by myself."
But he realises he is extremely lucky to be
alive, and knows he should treasure every
moment of his remaining life.
"When you come that close to death you
realise what's important in life, and everything
else, all the silly little stuff, just falls away."
If you would like to follow more of Andrew's
adventures, visit his blog http://bpgttw.
tumblr.com/ or follow him on Twitter @
bpgttw
Rescued!